Aside from Ben’s trademark technique Intentions from his MI40 program and the science behind the number 40 (we can explain why 40 is scientifically optimally for every variable above), we have…. NOS!

I’ll let Ben explain NOS to you…

Join the NOS revolution:

For years, I had been searching for the best way to overload my muscles each and every time I go in the gym. I know you can relate to those days when you worked “hard” but still feel like you could have done more. Leaving the gym feeling like there was more in the tank or maybe getting home and regretting not pushing harder?! I CRAVED something that would ensure that my muscles are taken to their limit, and CREATE NEW GROWTH! That is the basis behind MI40.

mi40

This is when I discovered NOS!

My training partner and I had been coming up with creative ways to inflict pain on each other during leg workouts for years. I remember daydreaming of ways to make workouts harder. My goal was to leave the gym knowing I had BLASTED every last muscle fiber, and to have my training partner talking about how he had never experienced muscle pumps and growth like this.

“Straight sets” just didn’t seem to do the trick anymore. Ya sure I felt a decent pump, but it just didn’t seem to be the type of intensity that I KNEW I needed to grow!

FACT: A “straight set” will NEVER cause the type of neurological adaptation, hormonal response, and thereby GROWTH that a NOS set will. NOS Sets are to be used throughout MI40.

NOS WAS BORN ON A LEG PRESS!

Being a research junky I had always read about overloading the muscle and overloading the nervous system to stimulate new muscle and strength gains respectively. Time under tension was proven to be the number one factor correlated with muscle growth and overload!

Something clicked in my brain! Time under MAXIMAL TENSION! This had to be better than just time under tension!! And so, my GROWTH BABY was born!

If I could use the maximum amount of weight I could handle for strict form for the greatest amount of time possible, growth was inevitable! The only catch is, that ITS HARD!

NOS is something that I have been using religiously ever since. Perfecting its components. I use it to get ready for my contests and in my offseason. Straight sets are now a thing of the past.

The science behind NOS: Neurological Overload Set.

NOS is a patented method of my new muscle building online program, MI40.

The NOS system has been specifically designed to ensure a maximal MUSCLE OVERLOAD! The greatest number of muscle fibers are broken down or exhausted. Taking your muscles to such an exhausted state also causes the highest possible release amount of growth hormones and growth factors within a working muscle! Without these, you can train all day and eat a perfect diet and expect ZERO growth. This is one of the main reasons why so many people train often, train “hard” and see minimal results. They never reach that “overload-anabolic state.”

GREATER OVERALL STIMULUS=GREATER MUSCLE GROWTH!

Now this Math I LIKE!

How to: NOS

NOS is completed by performing an “extended set”.

The goal here is to extend the set for as long as possible while maintaining tension on the working muscle, and perfect form!

Start the set with a weight that you can use for a strict 8 repetitions. After completing your first 8 repetitions, decrease the weight by 20%(if youre using 100lbs, you would decrease by 20lbs, etc.) Immediately continue to perform as many repetitions as you can with the second weight (usually 5-8 reps). Repeat this process 4 times total. (You will complete 3 drops, therefore 4 “sets”-100,80,60,40lbs).

DO NOT allow your form to stray in an attempt to complete more reps. If anything, decrease the size of the Range of Motion (ROM) (“partials”), just make sure to be initiating the movement with the working muscle from a fully stretched position.

NOS should only be used as indicated in the MI40 program. For more info, check out the link below.

I have a special guess post from an icon in the fitness industry today, Mr. Ben Pakulski from the MI40 program just released this week.

He discusses the #1 way to build muscle and this is derived specifically from the MI40 program he is famous for.

MI40 – The #1 Determining Factor To Build Muscle

Question: Ben, please identify the number one training mistake that would be preventing individuals from achieving maximal muscle gains and what the solution is you lay out in MI40.

Answer: Well, we all know “the guy” in the gym that throws a ton of weight on the bar and moves it with terrible form and looks like hes going to hurt himself. He is the root of many of our jokes, and definitely gets a lot of sideways looks from the patrons of the gym.

We’ve all asked ourselves “WHAT is he trying to do?” Chances are, he has no clue. He comes in the gym everyday and does the Exact same thing week in and week out because he really has NO IDEA what he is trying to do. Therein lies the problem!

Guess what, more likely than not, you have all been guilty of doing this too at some point in your life (whether you care to admit it or not).

The first thing you need to do is identify your desired goal. If your goal is to build muscle, then you have come to the right place and you should take a minute listen up.

The one and ONLY most important factor that you need to consider when it comes to your quest to build muscle, is TENSION. (more on that in a minute..)

We have all heard people speak about mind-muscle connection, or that you’ve got to really “squeeze” a muscle to make it grow. I don’t know about you, but for most people this is a really hard concept to figure out. Those of us that “get” what it means, still really have a difficult time putting it to action.

The good news is, this is quite a simple concept and I will show you how to apply it to building your muscles literally TWICE as fast. This techqnique is peppered throughout MI40.

Here is what you need to know:

Muscles communicate in terms of tension. They have absolutely NO idea how much weight youre lifting. They only know how much tension or torque is going through them.

What if I told you there was a way to perform more or less ANY exercise so that you could FEEL it EXACTLY where youre supposed to feel it, AND increase muscular tension with LESS weight to get results TWICE as fast in half the time. Sounds pretty cool, right? I’ll explain.

YOU can control exactly how much tension or torque that goes through a muscle you are working at ANY point in the workout.

You have complete control over HOW HARD you squeeze, HOW LONG you work, and most importantly EXACTLY WHERE you squeeze and contract.

You can selectively train EXACTLY the muscle youre supposed to be and not train anything that you don’t want to be.

Every guy out there knows what im talking about. We’ve all don’t bench presses and got NO pump in our chests but our delts and tris were cooked! No more, gents!

I would like to take this moment to introduce to you the revolutionary muscle building technique called INTENTION!

The way I describe intention to people I encounter that are unfamiliar with it is this:

“Intention is the CONSCIOUS INTENT to create TENSION in the muscle”

I know, I know, sounds a little hokey. BUT the fact of the matter is that this is BY FAR the best way to ensure you are maintain tension on the working muscle.

The number one most highly correlated factor with building muscle is “TIME UNDER TENSION”. The longer you can keep tension directly on a muscle, the more you control the rate at which that muscle grows.

You can do a bench press all day long, and if there is not tension in the pecs, you WILL NOT build pecs. Why is it that some people can build great chests while bench pressing while others cant? Because some peoples “genetics” all them to
thoughtlessly keep a greater amount of tension in that muscle!

We now have the ability to do this consciously. The best part is, IT’S EASY!!

INTENTION in action.

The most simple example of intention exists on the bench press. Grab on the bar in front of you, just like you would on a bench press. You can use any stable surface for this example. I will use the edge of my desk. I grab the edge of my desk about equally as wide as I would on a bench press. Hold on firmly, and without letting your hands move from that position, “shove” them toward each other. What happened? Your chest contracted didn’t it?

Now imagine doing this exact thing through a range of motion, like in a bench press.

WOW! You just created continuous tension in the EXACT muscle you wanted to! Pretty cool right!?

END OF ARTICLE

For more information, be sure to check out all of Ben’s methods over at his MI40 program.

As some of you may be aware, I recently was again subjected to a test group for a new program, MI40.

MI40 is an advanced bodybuilding plan written and designed by a HUGE icon in the industry, the Pak-Man, Ben Pakulski.

I was honored to be selected and featured on their success stories page. I also got personalize advice from Ben himself and he delivered BIG time.

I thought I would show you an in depth look at the program from my point of view and you can see the results I got as well as get some killer information that I obtained from the MI40 program and workout.

So without further ado, check out my transformation video below. Be sure to comment if you like it

Oh and in case you missed it, here are my unedited before and after photos + the progression…

MI40 Results

Now because the MI40 program is such a massive product, I felt like I needed to eleborate a bit in this blog. So, read on about why this program is the one you NEED in order to start growing like a bodybuilder.

First, MI stands for MASS INTENTIONS and INTENTIONS is Ben’s trademark technique that addresses the problem of not being able to go heavier and heavier with your weights unless you wish to carry more risk than reward.

Going heavier isn’t your best option, especially after a few years of lifting, if you want to stimulate muscle growth and you most look to other solutions. With INTENTIONS you change the angle of pushing or pulling by means of a technique almost imperceptible to an observer. You push inward or pull outward with your hands or feet as you perform an exercise. After being introduced to intentions my body has never looked the same. You’ve seen my pictures!

Intentions literally RE MOLDED my body.

In the MI40 DVD, Ben teaches you how to apply INTENTIONS to virtually every exercise, not an easy task if you’re untrained in biomechanics and kinesiology (Ben holds a degree from the University of Western Ontario in Kinesiology). On barbell presses for chest, for example, you try to push your hands together. One thing is certain: Forget about using your normal weights.

We often play around with grip widths and experiment with pushing and pulling angles, but with intentions you introduce a variable that can awaken dormant muscle fibers and stimulate them in fresh, new ways.

Pakulski has used intentions to get more out of exercises like leg presses, squats, barbell rows, bench presses and overhead presses—really anything that has you pushing or pulling both limbs at once on a bar or roller pad. It’s helped him become ripped at 270, place Top 10 at the Arnold Pro Show, Top 5 at the Flex Pro show and on his way to qualifying for the Mr. Olympia next year!

INTENTIONS is 100% unique and will breath new life into your workouts. More important, it stimulates new muscle growth based on science and biomechanics, not bro science.

MI40 is THE program to try next…dont wait around, get it while the pre-sale is on this week only with all the bonuses and good stuff!

Hey, I have an awesome article to share with you today that has to do with 10 Renegade rules to follow for better muscle gains…check it out below!

10 RENEGADE Beliefs of Vince Gironda

by Mike Westerdal of CriticalBench.com

Vince Gironda is one of bodybuilding’s pioneers. In fact many call him the father of bodybuilding. His roots go all the way back to the mid-1900s, when he opened his own gym in 1948, in North Hollywood, California. As a trainer and gym owner, Vince quickly developed a reputation as a trainer of champions, including the very first IFBB Mr. Olympia in 1965. From there, his fame grew and his gym began attracting some of the biggest names in bodybuilding, including Lou Ferrigno, Frank Zane and even Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Vince became well known for being a trainer of champion bodybuilders and Hollywood celebrities, but his training concepts and philosophies generated a lot of controversy. Many of his ideas were considered to be unconventional by much of the bodybuilding community. Despite his ‘unorthodox’ viewpoints, a lot of people really believed in Vince and his theories about bodybuilding and nutrition. Let’s take a look at some of the most polarizing things Vince said, and you can decide for yourself if he was truly ahead of his time.

1. Vince was one of the earliest professionals to make a strong connection between nutrition and performance. In fact, he went even said that bodybuilding was ‘85% nutrition.’ Some of his nutrition ideas were very controversial—like reducing carb intake during a cutting phase. Or the fact that he was a big proponent of drinking raw, unpasteurized milk, which has generated a big debate over the last couple of years. Some bodybuilders swear by it, but governmental health regulators consider drinking raw milk a dangerous practice—so much so that it’s banned in a number of states.

2. He didn’t believe in the bench press for building the pecs. He said that it put too much emphasis on the front deltoids and not enough on the pectoral muscles. Yikes! Tell that your buddies at the gym and see what kind of reaction you get. Instead of the bench press, Vince favored what he called the ‘neck press,’ which is sort of like a bench press, but instead of lowering the bar to your chest, you lower it to your neck, using less weight and a wider grip.

3. To improve digestion, Vince believed that it was important to put your legs and feet up higher than your stomach after every meal.

4. Vince did not believe that you should listen to music when working out. He felt that it was too distracting to bodybuilders. For him, music was only good for doing aerobic exercises.

5. In sharp contrast to what most experts say, Vince believed that beginning bodybuilders should train six days a week—not the three to four days a week you see advocated today. He reasoned that beginners are so full of energy and enthusiasm, that six days a week was good for them. He ruffled a lot of feathers with this one.

6. A fierce advocate of all natural bodybuilding, Vince believed that bodybuilders should eat up to 36 raw, fertilized eggs every day. He said that the effects of this were equivalent to taking the steroid Dianabol. Can’t even imagine where you’d find raw, fertilized eggs these days.

7. Unless you were a woman or a guy without any ‘junk in the trunk’ Vince didn’t believe in regular back squats—a staple of most any bodybuilding routine. Instead, he favored sissy squats, front squats and his own modified squat.

8. This isn’t so controversial now since it’s pretty widely accepted but Vince was one of the very first bodybuilding professionals to deride the sit-up as a strategy for building the abs. Back when he first made his thoughts on the subject known, you can bet riled some top professionals of the day.

9. And speaking of abs, Vince believed that most guys wasted far too much time training their abs. According to him, spending too much time training the abs shocked the central nervous system, disrupting muscle growth in other areas of the body.

10. According to Vince, there is such as thing as too much protein. A lot of guys would disagree with this but Vince said that excessive protein intake results in the opposite effect of what you want to achieve by consuming lots of protein. Vince had this crazy idea that you should consume the amount of protein that is right for you, based on gender, age, fitness level, training routine and lifestyle. In his mind, it’s foolish to consume massive amounts of protein just because some other guy is doing it.

So there you have it, ten of Vince’s more controversial viewpoints. You can decide for yourself whether or not you think Vince just liked controversy or was way ahead of his time.

Some of you may have been wondering where I have been the past 5 months! After all, I really only and did a few blog posts lately and I have not been as involved with training. So I wanted to just do a quick “where the hell have I been for the past 5 months” post!

Some of you may know, my girlfriend and I recently purchased a dream property with a horse training facility. Here is a quick pic of a portion of the 30 acre property!

We now have 5 employees, a barn that is 3/4 full (which is the amount we want to stop at), a full dog boarding facility and there is so much else going on.

Also, I quit my full time job not too long ago to finally be able to work from home full time on the fitness side of things. It’s been great and in future posts I want to share with you some of the big life lessons I have learned over the past 5 months. And YES it is possible to learn a lot in that little amount of time.

The biggest thing I have learned is that there is alot more to life than just fitness. I mean dont get me wrong about things, I still train hard, eat clean and follow a schedule but guess what…if I miss a meal now, I dont panic! If I am a bit too tired from a workout, I might skip a day without stressing out! and if I feel like having a nice drink with family or friends, I DO it! Without feeling guilty. And you know the best part? I still stay in decent shape, still have slight ab definition and I am probably much more fun to be around now and I am enjoying life in every regard. Here’s on of my latest progress pics…not too bad for no more cardio and being much more flexible with my nutrition.

Probably not the first concern you might have when it comes to muscle building but eventually uneven muscular developments may begin to appear and when they do, it is time to take action.

Of course the real cure is to perform preventative exercises to make sure this never happens but if it does (and like most it will) then it is time to try and correct these imbalances using some proven techniques.

Check out the video for some great beginner methods to improving muscular balance and correcting lagging bodyparts. Start to include these tips in your workouts and you should notice a big difference in the months to follow.

Chest Exercises – The Top Finishers

Now filming in my dungeon basement, until the new gym is built, I can do a lot more videos for any requests you might have

Today’s video deals with muscle buildng exercises that help finish off a chest workout. Great to include as a final set or an extra set at the end of a workout.

Getting the chest to grow is largely contributed to being able to properly stimulate the muscles in my opinion. Ok, for that matter, it is actually important for all muscle groups but I think more importantly chest.

For sometime before I really knew about muscle building, I was always concerned with my weight. Often time’s people measure a person’s muscularity by weight alone.

“Hey, how much do you weigh”?

If I had a pound of muscle for every time someone asked me that, I would be the most muscular guy on the planet (which wouldn’t be a bad thing either).

This question gets asked so many times by novice bodybuilders and so called fitness athletes and it drives me insane…or at least it used to. I grew to tolerate it more since realizing that most people who asked the question were just misinformed or lacked knowledge on the topic.

Weight alone is NOT the best factor in defining muscularity in a man or woman and in this article I will explain several reasons why that is and the biggest determinants in what X-factors influence a person’s perception of someone’s muscularity.

Why ‘weight’ alone is not the best indicator of muscularity

I remember having a conversation with someone about building muscle once and I remember him asking why even though he weighed more than me (by about 20lbs), I still looked bigger than him?!

This was a prime example what I mentioned above. People can be deceived by judging someone on weight alone because they are not considering body composition which is the true indicator of a person’s muscular status.

If you line up two people side by side; 1 person was 200lbs 20% bodyfat and one was 185lbs 10% bodyfat, who would appear more muscular? The 200lb guy? Nope! You would be wrong because even though the 185lb guy is lighter, he has more muscle mass on him and lower body fat which can also effect the perception of musculature (which I will touch on in the next section).

One concept people don’t always grasp is the role bodyfat levels play in the muscular appearance. Sure people know bodyfat is not a good thing, but did you know just how much it can affect your appearance? The answer is astronomically!

Take for example; when I bulked up to 220lbs I ended up at about 23% bodyfat…not cool! I put on a lot of muscle since I started at about 19% bodyfat, but it didn’t show at all. [Read more...]

This past Sunday started like any other day until I discovered something…

I got an email from a friend who snapped a quick pic of a page of a Magazine called Sweat Equity, you know, the same mag I shot for back in November?

At first, I didn’t think much of it until I realized it was my photo and article that made it in the magazine. How cool is that?

Sure, I shot with them in November alongside a big name in the fitness industry but there was NO guarantee that I would actually make the cut and get in .

But I did, and this was my first MAGAZINE feature and it felt great!

It’s got me super motivated to continue challenging myself and chasing bigger goals in the coming year including possibly competing at a bigger competition next fall. But that is still undecided as I am totally SWAMPED with things like moving, starting a new business building a gym and many more things.

Now, I received quite a few additional emails since people have seen the magazine feature and I wanted to quickly give you a recap of how I got ready for this shoot

I know that it might sound hard to actually do, but I made that goal relevant to where I was at in my experience in the industry, training and my contacts.

A few years ago, I would have never made a goal like that since it wasn’t as attainable at the time. Set goals that will force you to make big leaps but at the same time are achievable basedon your level in the game.
I gained quite a bit of muscle mass and used it to my advantage before starting into my cutting plan.

It’s all about building STEPS to success.

2. I put on weight in anticipation of cutting back down with more muscle.

I only learned of the photoshoot opportunity about 8 weeks before the actual shoot and since I was already pretty ripped, I decided to add some mass using Bones To Buff for the first 4 weeks. [Read more...]

Embarrassing This past weekend I was treated to a surprise birthday party organized by Natasha and my family and I got to meet up with old friends and spent some quality time with people who I enjoy being around.

My 25th birthday is yet another one that I will never forget and that is because of the great party and this years accomplishments, but also because of a gift that my mom gave me…

After opening some birthday cards and eating some cheesecake (my favorite) we went downstairs and watched a DVD photo compilation that my mom put together for me for a gift. It was a great 3 minute video of some of the best photographed memories of my life…

But then one image came up and well…

Have you ever saw a photo that made you sick to your stomach?

Did you ever see an image that brought back painful memories?

Want to know the worse part? It was a photo of me!!!

The photo below is a photo from when I was about 16 years old and I was severely underweight…skinny…and I still believed that’s just the way I was made and there was nothing I could do about it.

That photo was a HUGE reminder of the time when I was still super scrawny, small and helpless in trying to get bigger.

Look at my plate…I was eating steak potatoes and more steak but I still couldn’t gain…honestly, I was running up a tall grocery bill that got me nowhere with gaining muscle.

Heck, my current girlfriend (Natasha) said she would not have even dated me back then just because of the way I looked. Do you blame her? I looked very young for my age, had a baby face and was sickly small!

About Joey

Hey everyone, my name is
Joey Vaillancourt and I am a former skinny/out of shape guy who turned his entire life around by doing the same thing you are doing today…searching for answers to a better body.

You see, I was not a certified personal trainer straight out of a well respected university graduating with top honours with a Kinesiology degree. I actually graduated with an Electronics degree (I’ll talk more about that after).